This is the best trekking route for mountain biking that we were able to find in Ladakh. As the gradients are gentle it is possible to ride a lot of the way, even though there are four high passes. The highest of these is the Kozur La, at over 5,600m, and the whole route is above 4,500m, so it’s a good idea to be well acclimatized before attempting it. There are no supplies available on the route, but water is not a problem to find.

 

Here’s our blog post for this route.

Total KM	Stage KM	Comment
0		Turn off main Leh-Manali highway (at 4,640m), 23km from Taglang La.
	9	Tarmac road towards Tso Kar.
9		Turn R off the tarmac onto a jeep track (4,620m).
	16	Begin heading round the west side of Tso Kar. Pass through a tourist camp after 2km, and the small settlement of Tsogar (no facilities and no water) after a further 8km.
25		Nuruchang village (4,680m). Water, but didn’t see any shops.
	5	Jeep track ends 1.5km after Nuruchang. Cross river and climb 3.5km to the pass. We were able to cycle most of the way.
30		Kongka La (4,969m).
	17	Descend to a river at 4,850m, then climb gently upvalley to a herder’s camp, 6km from the pass. All rideable. Then climb 7km further to the Kozur La (we had to push most of these 7km.)
47		Kozur La (5,626m).
	5	Descend 2km to the valley floor, then follow the river downstream (east) for 2km to Gyamabarma (5,220m – water, but nothing else there). Most of this was rideable. Cross the river and follow the obvious trail uphill for 1.5km to Kostse La (pushed all of this climb).
52		Kostse La (5,398m).
	11	2.5km descent to a river (all rideable). Cross this, then another river in a wide valley, then climb by a small river towards the Yalung Nyau La. Some of the climb is rideable, and the views are good.
63		Yalung Nyau La (5,446m). First views of Tso Moriri.
	11	Descend on a trail that is initially steep, but flattens out near Korzog. Almost all rideable.
74		Korzog (4,570m). Scruffy and dirty village on the shores of Tso Moriri that we grew to quite like. Excellent views. Many simple guesthouses, a couple of restaurants and some shops. Supplies are quite a bit more expensive than in Leh.

 

Route Summary
Total amount climbed	1,850m in 4 days
Traffic	A couple of jeeps on the way to Nuruchang, and a couple more near Korzog. The rest is a trekking route.
Difficulty	5
When we cycled	September 2012
How much we had to push	~ 22km

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